ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. content — the amount
  3. march — the month
  4. date — the fruit
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. march — music
  8. content — happy
  9. capital — a city
  10. root — the cause
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. root — of a word
  13. net — in sport
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. net — for catching
  17. march — the month
  18. capital — money
  19. net — after costs
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com